Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” Psalm 126:2 (NIV)

I have always loved ducks. Even before I ever had baby ducks, I could not help but chuckle at their shape, their sound and the way they walked. I mean, look at them! How could anyone not believe God had a sense of humor?

When they were babies I would put them in the bath tub filled with warm water and two big flat rocks from the garden. As I gently placed them in the tub the water rose so that they floated and bobbled around the tub. Paddling to and fro using little orange webbed feet they peeped to each other, played and groomed. All of a sudden one would plop back on his tail, stretch his little neck up and then dive under the water where he would zoom around the tub like a fuzzy little black missile with a beak.

Out of four baby ducklings one flew away the minute she was let out of the brooder room and one broke her neck trying to land in a fenced in vegetable bed. This meant we were left with two ducks who purposefully waddled around the yard, inspecting puddles, gossiping about the chickens and supervising any work being done. We named them “The Duck Sisters”.

The ducks gave us such joy! They seemed to poke fun at everything which then of course made us take everything much less seriously. Their regular “waaack, wack, wack, wack….” always made the barnyard sound like there was a party going on. Their presence seemed to give us license to laugh when many times we really wanted to cry.

The gift of the Duck Sisters was this: recognition of the great blessing of joy and laughter. Express joy and laughter and worship God. God-breathed joy heals, inspires, lifts our hearts and gives us belief in something greater than our sorrow. Joy does not come from worldly status but eternal status through a light spirit in spite of worldly status. In our cynical world where disdain is interpreted as a sign of intellect and affluence, joy is considered a sign of idiocy. But as Christians, joy comes from hearts grateful for blessings the world cannot see and cannot understand. Through joy and happiness we outwardly show the eternal hope that is within us.

Oh heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of laughter. Let it remind us that no burden is greater than the joy we find in your love. Amen.